The Nets announced on Thursday night that guard Kyrie Irving has been suspended without pay for “no less than five games” and that the team is “of the view that he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets.”
According to the team, Irving will be suspended “until he satisfies a series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct and the suspension period served is no less than five games.”
“Over the last several days, we have made repeated attempts to work with Kyrie Irving to help him understand the harm and danger of his words and actions, which began with him publicizing a film containing deeply disturbing antisemitic hate,” reads the team statement. “We believed that taking the path of education in this challenging situation would be the right one and thought that we had made progress with our joint commitment to eradicating hate and intolerance.
“We were dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film. This was not the first time he had the opportunity - but failed - to clarify.
“Such failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so is deeply disturbing, is against the values of our organization, and constitutes conduct detrimental to the team.”
After promoting an antisemitic film on his social media channels, Irving had a chance to apologize for his comments in front of media members Thursday, but he failed to do so.
"I take my responsibility for posting that," Irving said. "Some things that were questionable in there, untrue. Like I said in the first time when you guys asked me when I was sitting on that stage, I don't believe everything that everybody posts. It's a documentary. So I take my responsibility."
"I'm not the one that made the documentary," Irving added.
Later in the night, though, Irving posted an apology on his Instagram.
"To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize," Irving wrote. "I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Anti-Semitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the Documentary."
He concluded: "I am learning from this unfortunate event and hope we can find understanding between us all. I am no different than any other human being. I am a seeker of truth and knowledge, and I know who I Am."
The apology came after ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt took to Twitter on Thursday and quote-tweeted a response to one of the video clips from Irving's media availability where Irving was asked if he has any antisemitic beliefs and did not say yes or no.
"The answer to the question 'Do you have any antisemitic beliefs' is always 'NO' without equivocation," Greenblatt wrote. "We took @KyrieIrving at his word when he said he took responsibility, but today he did not make good on that promise. Kyrie clearly has a lot of work to do."
As a result, Greenblatt announced that the ADL will not be accepting the $500,000 donation from Irving.
"We were optimistic but after watching the debacle of a press conference, it’s clear that Kyrie feels no accountability for his actions," Greenblatt said, via SNY's Ian Begley. "@ADL cannot in good conscience accept (the donation).’"